Short Note: India and Methanol Based Economy

How can Methanol Economy be helpful for India? What are major roadblocks in to use Methanol as an alternative fuel?

Methanol is simplest alcohol and does not have a carbon-carbon bond and therefore does not emit particulate matter which causes pollution. It can be easily produced from renewable sources which include forest residue, bio waste generated from houses, agriculture waste, biodegradable waste from other sources.

An economy which is based on methanol will have benefits which will touch each section of the society and the environment. All the modern petrol and diesel engines can be modified using inexpensive and small changes so that they work as methanol engines. This will not only reduce the dependence on pollution causing fossil fuels but also reduce the overall ever increasing price of crude oil and its products. Apart from the usage as a fuel methanol economy can be very useful in order to reduce the waste and act as a waste management method. As methanol is derived from biomass, it can be derived from the millions of tons of biomass produced and dumped in the country.

The current government aims to reduce the dependency on oil and gas by 10% in the coming 5 years. To achieve this and explore the possible methods the NITI Aayog had formed a committee under V.K Saraswat. As per the report of the committee, the government should invest in methanol based fuels as it will reduce the waste and also help in fighting global warming. Once the entire set up is established in the country, India can become a net energy exporter to its neighbouring countries and bolster strategic ties with them.

The down side of this initiative is that there is a huge need of technological advancement in terms of the storage, transportation and usage of methanol as a fuel. There is a lot of research to be done on the methods and scale of implementing such a task on a national scale.

There is the added benefit that methanol produced here can be exported to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan which have comparable economies and with similar energy circumstances. To Investing in a methanol economy might be the required push for the energy sector, considering the costs of plunging in new technology and implementing it in a nation as big as India it still is a daunting task.